


age of aquarius

by newct127



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, First Contact, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Outer Space, Planets, Space Exploration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28608483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newct127/pseuds/newct127
Summary: Going home is exciting because Xiaojun did what he shouldn’t have done. He caught feelings for the crewmate that he shares a lab and a room with.Dealing with those feelings will be so much easier on Earth.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun
Comments: 19
Kudos: 58
Collections: Challenge #4 — Awaken The World





	age of aquarius

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much to the mods for the amazing themes this round!!!  
> i am really excited to share the first sci-fi fic i've written as part of this fest  
> hope you enjoy the fic

“Be smart about it. We have no time to waste.”

Taeyong’s words replay in Xiaojun’s mind. He looks at his crewmates scattered around him, everyone doing their job. Everyone’s focused on their work. It makes Xiaojun focus more.

He goes over the check-list he memorized, then checks the timer on his wrist. Four more minutes to explore, six minutes total before the oxygen runs out in his suit.

He gives himself twenty seconds to map out his next moves. He looks up from the timer, his eyes landing on Jaehyun. The physicist is taking measurements, doing his own tasks.

Xiaojun has no time for that train of thought.

He gets to work — gets a few scoops of the soil in a baggie and puts it in his case. He does the same with some low-growing plants, digging out their roots for study as well.

There is a lot to figure out about this planet. When the world was first discovered, scientists on Earth had high hopes. The spectroscope readings were promising. But the air doesn’t have enough oxygen. The skies are green and the water is black. He has yet to do tests to see what’s really inside the water.

What’s supposed to be green in nature isn't green. It's different colors. Beside purple, there's orange and blue. Red and magenta.

It's not right. It makes Xiaojun’s eyes tired.

But two more minutes, and he won’t have to see this world again.

🚀

They've been on the ship for 76 years and 4 months. They've been awake for a total of 486 days.

It might be decades since the last time they were on Earth but they haven't aged that much. They don't age while in hibernation, and they hibernate a lot.

This was the fourth planet that they have visited, with two more to see before making the trip back to Earth. With all the data gathered, they'll most likely change the course of humanity. But they still have to find a destination for future generations to inhabit.

Out of the six destinations, the last one is most promising. From the first readings, it's the most Earth-like planet they have spotted in the universe so far.

🚀  
  


Planet number five isn't a spherical object.

They presume it used to be an asteroid that got stuck in orbit around the three suns, but it's much, much larger than any asteroid Xiaojun could have ever imagined.

By Jaehyun’s calculations, it could cover the entire Eurasian continent. They’re getting ready for bed in their room when Jaehyun starts talking about what would happen if an asteroid of that size were to hit Earth. Xiaojun kindly asks him to shut up. Jaehyun stops, does a zipping motion over his lips. His smile widens. Xiaojun swallows his feelings and gets in his bunk.

Being on the oddly-shaped planet is a different experience. It has an atmosphere, but it's too thin. It has no fauna or flora. It could never house human life.

Technically they have no business being here. But it is on their way and the peeps back home want data and samples from it.

This is the mission that they all despise, the one Taeyong called a waste of time and Taeil argued with ground control over. Kun spent a week after it was added to the agenda figuring out the trajectory and cursing at ground control for making their job harder. From keeping them in space longer. Even though going home isn't exciting.

They will return home after approximately 193 Earth years, and by then society will be different. Everyone they knew before leaving will be gone.

Going home is exciting because they’ll get to rest. To enjoy the simple things and start their lives.

Going home is exciting because Xiaojun did what he shouldn’t have done. He caught feelings for the crewmate that he shares a lab and a room with.

Dealing with those feelings will be so much easier on Earth.

🚀

"Find anything interesting?"

Xiaojun leans back, his eyes readjusting looking under the microscope. Once he saw the microbes he couldn't look away. They look exactly like the ones he first found on Nore PXN17, the first planet they visited. He found them a few times since, on Dialea and Cririr. They're on Earth as well, he knows that for a fact.

He turns around in his chair and looks at Jaehyun. He’s sitting on his side of the lab with a Rubik’s cube in hand. He always plays with it when waiting for results.

"Interesting yes. Out of the ordinary, no," he says and smiles at him, "Take a look."

He rolls his chair away from the desk, while Jaehyun rolls his towards it. Jaehyun peeks through the microscope eyepieces, adjusting it. He leans back and turns towards Xiaojun.

"There they are again."

"I just need to confirm the DNA signature, but I think so,” Xiaojun nods, "We’ll know in about an hour, I expect."

"I’ll let Taeyong know,” Jaehyun returns. He lingers for a moment, what he says next explains why. “Lights out in three hours."

Lights out. Back to hibernation.

Xiaojun hates this part. The effects of it are groundbreaking, but going down in hibernation is almost painful. It feels like drowning. The urge to stop yourself from drowning is hard to combat.

But waking up, the first breath out of the chamber, that's worth the struggle.

The yearning he wakes up with, and the headache after are unpleasant, though.

If only hibernation was a rewind and not a pause.

🚀

"See you all in seven years. Try not to age too much."

Yangyang aims to make them laugh as they're going down. The engineer's jokes are always corny but they lighten the mood. They always earn a few chuckles.

The last thing Xiaojun sees before he goes down is Jaehyun. One last memory to hold him over until he wakes up.

While he goes down he thinks about him. About days spent in their shared lab, joking while waiting for the computers to spit out results. He thinks about their days in training, when he first started catching feelings. How simple it was then.

He goes down with happy thoughts in his mind and the feeling of yearning in his stomach.

Seven years of sleep. A week on Strolla X14.

Then the real sleep will begin and he won’t see anyone for decades.

🚀

Xiaojun jerks awake and gasps for air.

He sits up in the hibernation tank, catching his breath and blinking. It takes him a minute to readjust.

The feeling of a hangover will come in a few minutes. He braces himself for it.

He looks around the hibernation tank room, at his crew members waking up alongside him. He looks at Jaehyun. The confusion on his face worries Xiaojun. It worries everyone.

"What's wrong?" Kun asks.

"We're not supposed to be awake yet."

Xiaojun turns towards the countdown clock on the wall along with everyone, the one that's there just in case something like this happens. _18 days, 12 hours, 47 minutes until scheduled wakeup._

The ship chose to awake them early.

Everyone in the crew turns to Taeyong, expecting an answer from the captain.

"Computer," he says. It beeps, recognizing Taeyong's voice. "Why is the wakeup date changed?"

"Emergency. Email for Captain of ship. Sender is Strolla X14. Received ten minutes ago."

Strolla X14 sent an email?

"There's life on Strolla?" Xiaojun asks the obvious.

Taeil smiles at him and winks. "Junnie’s gonna have fun again."

Yangyang flicks some of the water from his tank towards Xiaojun, getting his attention. Taeil's right. This is going to be really fun for him.

If it's not a trap.

"Computer, is the email written in a language you're familiar with?" Taeyong asks.

"It's in English sir," the AI responds.

"Read the email."

"Yes, Captain," the AI says, then begins to read.

It consists of basic information about the planet. Air quality, gravitational pull, diameter of the planet, the composition of the water. Satellite images. All the data they usually spend a few days figuring out by observing the planet as they approach it.

It's a welcome email. It sounds friendly up until the end. The last sentence sends chills down everyone's spines.

_We've been expecting you._

The words alarm all six of them.

"We need to confirm that this info is correct," Taeyong states the obvious, "We can't go in blind."

"We should respond," Kun says.

Taeyong gives them all new assignments and they get to work.

It all just got a lot more interesting.

🚀

The images from the on-board spectroscope and telescope confirm the contents of the email. The rotation speed matches. The elements in the atmosphere are the same as the ones stated in the email.

Yangyang hangs around him and Jaehyun as they work, and it both bothers Xiaojun and gives him a bit of ease. It’s just Yangyang being his normal self.

"It checks out, doesn't it?"

Xiaojun looks at Jaehyun, who meets his eyes and nods. He nods back at him. It checks out. On Jaehyun’s end and on Xiaojun's.

"It checks out," he confirms. Yangyang starts pacing when he hears that.

"We're gonna die. They've been waiting for us. They're ready."

Xiaojun looks at Jaehyun again, his eyes going wide. Jaehyun rolls his eyes, then tries to reason with Yangyang.

"Think about it like a scientist," he says, "We're always looking at the sky, right?"

"Right."

"Assume they do too. They see something approaching their solar system and it's not a natural occurring object. It's traveling faster than the speed of light and it starts to slow down as it reaches their planet. What should they do?"

"Watch it. Investigate. Try to establish contact. Assume they come in peace, but be wary cause you don't know their intentions." Yangyang calms down as he speaks. "It's exactly what they did."

"Besides, it's our mission,” Xiaojun reminds him, “We have to go there whether we like it or not."

"This wasn't in the plan," Yangyang says.

"A lot of things weren’t."

Jaehyun meets Xiaojun’s eyes when he says it. Xiaojun feels goosebumps cover his skin.

Is it the same for Jaehyun?

🚀

The response to their 'we come in peace' response is a map of the planet, coordinates on where they should land, and a suggestion to leave their suits on the ship.

They make a plan about what they can and should say. They figure out what's the smartest course of action, and they figure out the flight path.

There's no way that any of them are missing this action. They'll all go down to the planet together. Either they'll live and explore together, or they'll die together.

Taeyong drafts an email to ground control back on Earth to tell them about their finding. He attaches the planet coordinates, all the data and correspondence from the first contact on and sends it.

They write short goodbye messages in the meantime. It's dramatic, but it's just in case they don’t come back to the ship. The AI will send them to Earth for them.

There is one message that Xiaojun doesn’t get to write. He doesn’t get to tell Jaehyun how he feels. It won’t matter anyway.

🚀

It looks like home.

The continents aren’t shaped the same way, but the colors and the texture of what's surrounding them looks like they're on Earth. Xiaojun misses Earth so much.

He looks through the window, grinning the entire time. He's a kid in a candy shop, and he hasn't seen it up-close yet.

The coordinates the civilization gave them lead them to a landing pad. Kun lands the shuttle without any problems. They arrive and Xiaojun can feel the excitement in the atmosphere between them. It's the moment of truth.

They exit the shuttle, without any protective gear as instructed, and are greeted with people outside. People. Not humanoids.

They look exactly like them. They're the same height and seem to have the same anatomy as them. Xiaojun is in awe.

There's eight of them, all standing in a line. A welcome committee.

"Hello," the shortest of the group says.

"Hello," Taeyong replies, cautious tone of voice.

"Welcome to Utoria," the man speaks again, "It's great to finally meet Earthlings."

Xiaojun looks at Taeyong, then back at the Utorians.

They know Earth. Who would’ve thought.

Next to the man that’s speaking is a taller and muscular man. He’s looking at Xiaojun. Xiaojun would normally look away when their eyes meet, but he wants to know more.

It’s then that he notices that Jaehyun is by his side. The physicist moves closer, touching his arm to Xiaojun’s. He looks at him, but Jaehyun is unreadable.

“I don’t like the way they’re looking at you,” Jaehyun whispers.

Xiaojun wants to know more about Jaehyun’s behavior too.

🚀

They lead them to a facility nearby, taking them there in a vehicle that’s similar to the ones on Earth, but not quite right. It’s silent and more spacious. Yangyang is taking notes and asking questions about the vehicle from the moment they get inside it. So much for the panic he had when they were on board.

They separate them. Taeyong goes somewhere with the man who spoke, Yangyang goes in one direction with the man who answered his questions. Jaehyun, Kun and Taeil all get their own guides. This scares Xiaojun so much.

His guide takes him to a room where it's just them. It reminds him of examination rooms in hospitals on Earth, but again. Not quite right.

He gestures for Xiaojun to take a seat in a not-quite-right chair, and that's exactly what he does.

"Would it be okay if I took some blood and tissue samples from you?" the alien asks him.

"Only if I can take some from you."

"That's a fair deal."

Xiaojun nods and offers a smile.

He's gentle when he draws his blood, using equipment Xiaojun's familiar with. Syringes and tubes that work the same way like the ones Xiaojun has in his kit. The alien is calm and very trusting while Xiaojun takes the same samples from him.

Xiaojun holds himself back from asking questions. That is Taeyong’s and Taeil’s job.

But he becomes less afraid.

🚀

The first thing Xiaojun sees when he's reunited with his crew is them in shock. Jaehyun is especially uncomfortable while the Utorians are neutral. Xiaojun worries immediately.

Jaehyun looks at him, reading the question from his face.

"There's a wormhole near Earth. Three light weeks away from it,” he tells him.

“There’s wormholes all around the universe. You just don’t know how to find them," one of the Utorians adds. The Utorians look so calm telling them this, while they’re all in disbelief.

“We wasted so much time,” Jaehyun echoes what they’re all thinking.

“It’s…" Taeyong stops himself. He pinches the bridge of his nose, and sighs. There's so much going on. Xiaojun would act the same way. "Okay. Tell us how to find wormholes.”

This will be a great conversation.

🚀

"What do we have?" Taeyong asks, looking directly at Xiaojun.

They're back on the mothership, and Xiaojun has been running tests on the samples he got from the Utorian. He takes a breath to steady himself before he answers, all of his crewmates expecting to hear it too.

"Based on the tests I just did, including DNA sequencing,” he begins, knowing he can’t soften the blow. Like a bandaid, he decides. “We met humans."

Taeyong's jaw drops. Kun sucks in a deep breath and looks over at everyone. Taeil and Yangyang look at each other. Jaehyun won’t take his eyes off Xiaojun.

They’re all processing in their own way.

"What now?" Kun asks.

"We take samples tomorrow. The leader suggested sending one of them with us. They’ll show us the wormhole and teach us how to find them. On Earth they’ll teach us about Utoria. We can start our lives.”

“Are we allowed to take someone with us?” Taeil questions.

“Ground control already agreed.”

The room becomes silent again.

Jaehyun breaks it. “Permission to break rule 42.”

Xiaojun hasn’t heard Taeyong’s rule 42.

Taeyong is silent for a moment, thinking, while Xiaojun looks between the captain and Jaehyun. 42 could mean anything. They’re speaking in code. He doesn’t like it.

“Permission granted,” Taeyong responds.

Jaehyun doesn’t say anything. He turns towards Xiaojun and closes the space between them. He then wraps his arms tightly around him, rests his chin on Xiaojun’s shoulder.

Xiaojun doesn’t understand why, or why their crew members leave them alone. But he hugs him back, melting into his arms. He can’t question it. He wants more, but he’ll take what he can get.

Eventually, Jaehyun lets go. When their eyes meet, he takes a step back.

Xiaojun gets it then.

He won’t need to move on.

🚀

The Utorians don’t lie.

The representative they send takes them almost all the way home.

Going through wormholes is nothing like in the movies. It’s not a tunnel. It’s like a blink of an eye. You’re somewhere and then you’re somewhere else.

A feeling of relief sets in when they realize they’re in a familiar corner of the Milky Way.

They learn more about Utorians. Xiaojun gets to do more tests and run scans. There aren't any differences between Earthlings and Utorians.

On Earth they are heroes who have made a discovery. Despite trying to correct everyone, the credit is theirs.

What follows is quarantine at a military base.

Xiaojun doesn’t try to erase his feelings from that point on. Jaehyun makes it clear they're reciprocated.

They are quarantined together for an entire month. They catch up with history and current events, they get sad over the people they lost together. It brings them closer.

They never talk about it. They just are together. Like they were in their lab or their rooms on the ship and the base. They have a life together.

He didn’t think he’d get to be with Jaehyun. But it’s right.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!! let me know what you thought!
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/newct127) | [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.qa/newct127)


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